Cast: Nathan Lane (Max Bialystock), Matthew Broderick (Leo Bloom), Uma Thurman (Ulla), Will Ferrell (Franz Liebkind)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's The Producers page.
Considering all the nominations it got for the Golden Globes, I was expecting more, in spite of reviews I'd read. I normally don't read reviews before seeing a movie, but since I'd seen this show 3 times already, I didn't think there was much it could ruin. I gave the movie, The Producers the benefit of the doubt, figuring most people who reviewed it poorly hadn't liked the movie either, so it wasn't a group who likes Broadway shows as much as I do, etc.
Unfortunately, seeing The Producers movie only made me confused by the Golden Globe nominations and upset that it made more money in movie theaters than Rent, which was a much better movie adaptation in my opinion. I'd read reviews that said they were surprised Rent won this year's war of the movie musicals by being better done, but I hadn't seen both, so I couldn't judge.
If you've seen The Producers on Broadway or tour and haven't seen Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, I highly recommend renting the movie so that you can see some of what they took to the stage. Unfortunately, the movie doesn't capture them as much as seeing them live does, though. So, if you saw Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick live in The Producers on Broadway, skip the movie. They didn't use the advantages film gave them. My guess is the main reason for this is that they used the same director (Susan Stroman) who directed the musical on stage when she hadn't directed a major motion picture before. I think if they'd chosen a movie director, the movie could have been much better.
Grade: C+
Labels: 2005, comedy, Matthew Broderick, movie, musical, Nathan Lane, Uma Thurman, Will Ferrell
Reviewed by Kat at the 12:45 PM show | 0 screams